Steel Fabrication

Roles and Professional Journey in the Steel Construction Industry:

• Career began on the shop floor of a steel fabricator in the UK as an apprentice experiencing all aspects of a large steel fabrication shop including welding, fitting, field erection

• I moved into the drawing office and quickly got involved in the company’s CAD initiatives

• I was at the very heart of the 3D Modeling and Detailing (BIM) revolution in both the UK and North American markets. In 1997 I was part of a small team to bring Tekla Xsteel to the US - which has been a huge success ever since.

• My post-shop floor career started as a support agent, but then moved on to sales manager, product manager, VP of Operations for a machinery manufacturer FICEP/Steel Projects) and Chief Operating Officer for an MIS company (FabSuite). Along the way, I gained experience of most of the software (categories, brands) in the industry.

Thought Leadership

Numerous articles and presentations including:

• IFC: Interoperability for Construction? A Practical Take for the Steel Industry - NASCC 2013

• A Primer on Fabrication Technology [N13] - NASCC 2016

• An Intelligent Future: Following the 2%ers - NASCC 2015

• Tomorrowland - Modern Steel Construction article - 2013

Direct experience with the following categories, brands:

• Acecad Software - Strucad (support)

• Tekla Xsteel - now Tekla Structures and owned by Trimble (multiple roles including Managing Director)

• Softek Services (engineering design software, now owned by Trimble)

• FabTrol - sold to Aveva (Sales Director)

• American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) (Director of Industry Initiatives)

• Steel Central LLC - steel procurement and marketplace start-up (Founder)

• Steel Projects PLM - a FICEP company (VP NA Operations)

• FabSuite - now Tekla Powerfab owned by Trimble (COO and led subsequent acquisition by Trimble)

• Trimble Connect - visualization and collaboration software

Experience with the following via partnerships, integrations, industry initiatives etc

• Machinery, machinery interface software including: FICEP, Peddinghaus, Voortman, Kaltenbach, AGT

• Various: StruMIS (MIS), P2 Systems, Radley (Barcoding), SDS/2 (detailing), Lincoln, ESAB, MiTek, etc

• Design/Engineering Software including: RAMSteel, Staad, RISA, Structural Designer, TEDDS, SAP, etc

Industry initiatives and collaborations I've driven or engaged with:

• IFC for Steel Fabrication (successor to CIS/2) - exchange format for automating BIM to fabrication

• SteelXML - exchange format for steel procurement workflows (part of a drive to improve supplier workflows)

• Model Based Review and Approval - streamlining drawing approval using models

• Acceptance of digital signatures in the construction industry - Fiatech committee member

• IFC for Bridges (BrIM initiative) - with BuildingSmart

• BuildingSMART International - AISC representative on various IFC, BCF, other topics

• Chair, National BIM Standard (US) - National Institute of Building Sciences

• SDNF and SDNF2.0 knowledge and development (mostly with Fluor)

• DSTV and DSTV+ knowledge and development

• Collaboration on various initiatives with AGC, AIA, DBIA for project delivery initiatives such as Design-Build, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD)

• AISC SteelDay - country-wide showcase event for steel fabrication